Chapter 1

¹The ancestry of Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, who was descended from Abraham.

²Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, and Jacob of Judah and his brothers, ³and Judah of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. And Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram, ⁴and Aram of Aminadab, and Aminadab of Nahshon, and Nahshon of Salmon, ⁵and Salmon of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. And Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. And Obed was the father of Jesse, ⁶and Jesse of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother was Uriah’s wife. ⁷And Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam of Abijah, and Abijah of Asa, ⁸and Asa of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat of Joram, and Joram of Uzziah, ⁹and Uzziah of Jotham, and Jotham of Ahaz, and Ahaz of Hezekiah, ¹⁰and Hezekiah of Manasseh, and Manasseh of Amon, and Amon of Josiah, ¹¹and Josiah of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the period of the Babylonian Exile.

¹²After the Babylonian Exile, Jeconiah had a son named Shealtiel, and Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³and Zerubbabel of Abiud, and Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor, ¹⁴and Azor of Zadok, and Zadok of Achim, and Achim of Eliud, ¹⁵and Eliud of Eleazar, and Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob, ¹⁶and Jacob of Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus called Christ.

¹⁷So the whole number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen, and from David to the Babylonian Exile, fourteen, and from the Babylonian Exile to the Christ, fourteen.

¹⁸Now these were the circumstances of the birth of Jesus Christ. Mary, his mother, was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married it was found that she was about to become a mother through the influence of the holy Spirit. ¹⁹But her husband, Joseph, was an upright man and did not wish to disgrace her, and he decided to break off the engagement privately. ²⁰But while he was thinking of doing this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said,

“Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary, your wife, to your home, for it is through the influence of the holy Spirit that she is to become a mother. ²¹She will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for it is he who is to save his people from their sins.”

²²All this happened in fulfilment of what the Lord said through the prophet,

²³“The maiden will be pregnant and will have a son,

And they will name him Immanuel.”

—a word which means “God with us.” ²⁴So when Joseph awoke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had directed him, and took his wife to his home. ²⁵But he did not live with her as a husband until she had had a son, and he named the child Jesus.